Royals first baseman Nick Pratto’s solid relief outing Tuesday was no fluke

Royals first baseman/outfielder Nick Pratto was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday, but he couldn’t have expected his 2024 MLB debut would come on the mound.

Pratto was called upon to pitch the ninth inning of the Royals’ 10-1 loss to the Yankees at Kauffman Stadium, saving the bullpen a bit of wear and tear.

The pitching line for Pratto: One inning, one hit, no runs and one strikeout. Pratto topped out at 83.9 mph and his slowest pitch was clocked at 75.1 mph. Those aren’t eye-popping numbers, but the velocity was higher than we saw from infielder Nick Loftin last month.

Pratto used a changeup/slider combination against the Yankees and got two swings and misses among his 15 pitches. Jahmai Jones was the strikeout victim.

The Royals said Pratto was the seventh position player in franchise history to get a strikeout. The last to do it was Nate Eaton on April 10, 2023 at Texas.

We can all laugh about a position player coming into a game and getting a strikeout, but Baseball America editor-in-chief JJ Cooper wasn’t surprised.

In a message on X, Cooper wrote: “When he was a high school pitcher he had some of the best control I’ve seen in a legit draft prospect.”

This is from a 2017 scouting report on Baseball America’s website: “On the mound, Pratto attacks hitters with an upper 80s fastball that can reach as high as 91. He’s able to pound the strike zone and locate his fastball to both sides of the plate. His best offspeed pitch for the next level is his filthy changeup, which shows plus fade and was an out pitch for him on the showcase circuit. Pratto also throws a three-quarter breaking ball that shows promising shape and spin but is a below-average pitch at present. Pratto’s future, however, is in the batter’s box.“

Here are highlights of Pratto pitching in high school.